ABSTRACT The Pilot Projects Program will support innovative translational research from promising junior investigators (PJIs) or teams of researchers that have unique laboratory or clinical observations that require preliminary data to support competitive grant applications. This program builds on the successes and experiences of the Pilot Projects of Phases I and II of the COBRE. The long-term goal is the expansion of the critical mass of trained translational researchers who can move scientific observations from the laboratory bench to the clinic, and vice versa. The Executive Leadership team will select research proposals that expand our understanding of the mechanisms that initiate, promote or maintain chronic inflammation as a precursor or driver of disease, and test novel approaches that modulate inflammation as a means of preventing or treating diseases resulting from this process. The Phase III COBRE Pilot Projects Program will competitively select proposals to receive a funding for one year, with a possible second year, dependent upon satisfactory progress and likelihood of external funding. We will consider funding PJIs who have a strong mentorship plan and have shown exceptional productivity, or teams of investigators proposing highly novel translational initiatives that may result in groundbreaking observations. This initiative builds upon our experience whereby novel observations made by a team of COBRE researchers (junior and senior mentors) resulted in new external funding, including an NIH Director's Transformative Award in 2013. This success is, in great part, due to an integrated research development program provided by the COBRE that includes discussions of the scientific concept, designing an appropriate experimental plan, access to state-of-the-art scientific cores, a critical review of the data, and administrative support. Through a competitive process, the COBRE leadership will identify investigators who have exciting, high quality research proposals that are likely to produce high impact publications and grant proposals. In summary, the Pilot Projects Program will increase the number of trained translational researchers and research teams in Louisiana, and strengthen cutting-edge research on inflammation-driven chronic diseases that are highly prevalent in our state, and that are major causes of morbidity and mortality disparities.